There are so many pieces and so many thoughts that make up who I am. Pieces of Me explores the questions, vulnerability, connection and adventures that tell my story. Everyone has a journey, this one is mine.

My cousins and I, we are The Kinnie Club. While we may all be individual squares that make up the crazy old crochet quilt we call our family – made from mismatched colours and left over balls of wool – we are still just one big quilt. This is the place where I share our stories of tradition, celebration, connection and love.

The conversations over coffee that have filled my life with memories and with lessons are conversations that I want to share with you. On the last Tuesday of each month, Conversations over Coffee will open up as a blog link-up, open to all who would like to join. Each month a theme will be set and the only request is that your post be connected to that theme.

Miniature terrarium bonbonniere

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2015

The responsibilities of being a godparent are many. The responsibilities of being a Greek godparent, a Nouna, are even more so. The list of preparations is long for a Nouno and a Nouna. Preparations for the godchild, for the ceremony at Church and preparations for the celebration that follows. One of my responsibilities as a Nouna to my gorgeous little godson this year was to prepare the bonbonniere, or guest favours to give out at the celebration held after the Church ceremony.

Giving out bonbonniere is an age old tradition celebrated across so many cultures, it is not something new or on trend. I knew it was expected of me and I was so excited to have the responsibility to create something truly special to give out in celebration of our godson.

There are endless choices and options when it comes to bonbonniere, so many things you can buy. But I wanted something more than what I could buy. I wanted something that guests would keep, guests would treasure and reflected how much being godparents meant to both me and hubby. So the idea of creating miniature terrariums was born.

Terrariums had been catching my eye on Instagram for a little while. Perhaps it was the Universe nudging me in the right direction. Either way they were perfect as bonbonniere for our godson. They matched the theme of his celebration perfectly and they were an opportunity for us to give guests something they could grow to love, needed to look after and nurture, and less likely to throw out.

The miniature terrariums were also a reflection on our responsibility as godparents. To love, look after and nurture our godson. So from Instagram inspiration the wheels were put into motion to create fifty (yes 50!) individual miniature terrarium bonbonniere.

The process started simple enough with a weekend workshop in terrarium making. Lots of fun and I came home with one terrarium to look after and watch grow. The workshop taught me the basics: creating the right drainage, creating the right sphagnum moss centre, mixing the right ratio of soil to peat moss to activated charcoal and of course, telling a story with the plants and accessories and not just throwing them into the jar and hoping for the best.

It was a cold Sunday morning when I started working on my terrariums. Fifty little bottling jars lined up in a row full of possibility and inspiration. Honestly when I started out that morning I had no idea what I was in for. Setting up the jars, adding the rocks for drainage, even adding the sphagnum moss centres – hardly took no time at all. If anything I was almost starting to think ‘gee this is easy.’ But boy oh boy I could not have been more wrong.

Adding the soil and then planting each individual terrarium took hours and hours. Ten hours to be exact of slow diligent work to make sure the right environment was created for each one and the plants were safely planted and secure in their new home. My hands were aching by the end and adding the tiny bunnies and mushrooms was almost my tipping point. But as mum and I stood back after cleaning the glass of each finished terrarium I couldn’t help but beam with pride. They looked awesome, amazing even and each one was exactly as I had imagined.

The following weekend I spent a few more hours preparing the terrariums, adding the little wooden signs to each one, adding the labels and the hessian bags filled with sugar almonds. All fifty miniature terrarium bonbonniere were packed up in boxes and driven very carefully from Melbourne to Sydney ready to celebrate our godson’s christening.

Each jar arrived safely, each one was placed onto tables at the reception waiting for their intended guests. I’d like to think everyone loved them, but whether they did or not, they were perfect in every way.

Each miniature terrarium bonbonniere was exactly what I had imagined. A miniature world of possibility, a miniature world that needed love and nurturing to grow. A miniature world that would give the people who loved him most, a moment in their day to think of our godson.

Would I make fifty miniature terrarium bonbonniere again? While my aching hands scream no, it would all depend. If the reason was important enough, anything is possible.

What have been some of the bonbonniere you have received at events? Have you ever made a miniature terrarium?

A special thank you to my sister who not only created the tags for the bonbonniere,
she was my support and encouragement every step of the way.

And last, but certainly not least, an infinite thank you to my parents who supported and helped in every way they could and who drove fifty miniature terrarium bobonniere from Melbourne to Sydney without breaking a single one xx

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Wow! They are amazing. I absolutely love how much thought and love you put into these. They are so meaningful and I love that people can nurture them and watch them grow, just like they will with Leo. We wanted something special as our wedding bonbonniere. We collected some lovely smooth white stones when we were in NZ before our wedding and Dave thought it would be great to engrave everyone’s name in them. That’s 110 people. While that proved a little difficult, and we couldn’t bring 100 stones back from NZ, we bought some similar ones here in Australia and Dave wrote each person’s name on their stone and then the details of our wedding on the back.People loved it and most people we speak to still have them today.

Josefa, what a gorgeous idea!! I want one. I’ve never seen these as an idea to give to guests. You’ve totally blown my mind. For our wedding, we just gave 2 chocolate hearts – nothing fancy and nothing too complicated. But I think it’s really special when the host gives a special bonbonniere and it can give great memories to the guests.

What a gorgeous idea! But yes, hard work – well done you! They are seriously brilliant. I bet everyone loved them. I loved our wedding bombonniere – champagne glasses with a cute love motif. No dates, not our names, just something people could use again. One each, two for anyone attending solo, and a box of six for our parents and those in the wedding party. #teamIBOT

Josefa – these are divine! What a beautiful job you did. I love them. I am a sucker for a terrarium. I have made a couple but they are certainly not in this caliber! x

c lam

hi josefa, these are beautiful. i’m thinking of making some as a wedding bonbonniere. i’m just wondering where you got the ‘leo’ wooden sign made? and also if you don’t mind me asking, roughly how much did it cost per terrarium? (excluding all your manual labour and time costs!!) thank you. 🙂

Hi C, thank you! The wooden sign “Leo” was designed by Adelphi Mou and produced through Melbourne Laser Cutters. As for the cost – I stopped counting! Honestly, I did my best to source the best materials and products for the most reasonable price – but there reached a point where I just wanted them finished and looking spectacular – so budget fell to the wayside. I bought the jars from eBay, the figurines from Etsy and sourced the materials and most of the plants from Bunnings – although some plants were sourced from a local nursery. The hessian bags were from eBay and the tags designed and produced by Adelphi Mou. The workshop I did (which I highly recommend) was through Petite Green – hope all of this helps and all the very best with your wedding – how exciting!

c lam

Thanks so much for your reply Josefa, extremely useful advice! It’s going to be hard work preparing the terrariums, but I’m going to give it a go! Coincidentally, I did a wedding reception venue inspection the other week for some inspiration and noticed your sister Adelphi designed the stationery for a wedding that was being held there that day!

How exciting! Sending you lots of “good terrarium” vibes for when you make your ones – I am sure they will be spectacular! I just a made a few more recently as Christmas gifts…maybe if I have time next year I’ll run a “how to” blog post on making them. Make sure you send us a pic of the finished terrariums when they are all ready to go for the wedding – can’t wait to see how beautiful they are xx